iPhone Ad UPDATE:

June 12, 2007

After the release of the iPhone commercials I wondered if the featured restaurant gained any increase in trade.

It turns out that Pacific Catch the restaurant who’s name appeard briefly in the third iPhone advert did recieve an increase in calls after appearing in the ad. Though why anyone would contact a sea food restaurant for information regarding apple products is beyond me.

From the New York Times

Pacific Catch, a restaurant in San Francisco whose phone number appeared momentarily in one of the iPhone ads, averaged 100 extra calls a day the next week, the general manager, Rob Schechtman, said. Apple’s ad agency got the restaurant’s permission beforehand.

Calls came from as far away as Africa and included a collect call from a county jail; the restaurant did not accept the charges.

“I assume he saw the commercial and maybe wanted to know if we delivered,” Mr. Schechtman said.

Most callers are merely curious if it is a real restaurant, while others are more persistent. “Some people ask about the iPhone — when it was coming out and how much it would cost,” Mr. Schechtman said. “And I say, ‘We’re a restaurant, not an Apple Store.’ ” The restaurant’s computer system, he said, is actually PC-based.